Trip Planning and Predicting Range

[MikeBCO]

My wife and I are planning an overnight credit card ride in Rocky Mountain National Park (Estes Park to Grand Lake and back) . The map shows the outbound route up the steep uni-direction Old Fall River Road be 45 miles. We will then join the paved Trail Ridge Road which will also be our return route.

Our Bulls Lacuba E45's quote a range of 118 miles (single charge at the optimal conditions). OK, so conditions won't be optimal because I weigh 200 lbs, we will climb about 5,000' and summit at 12,200' and it could get cold up there.

Does anyone have any guidance on how to factor those non-optimal conditions in? EBR's review quotes a minimum range of 50 miles which suggests we are OK.

I also realize that there is one way to find out?

 

[Bruce Arnold]

The best anyone could give you is an educated guess. I'm not that educated, so I'll just give some encouragement. Go for it. Since the uphill part comes first, if you think you won't make it, turn around and roll back to Estes Park!

 

[rich c]

Will you be adjusted to the altitude before the ride? If not you'll be using a lot more assist to maintain some kind of speed. My first camping trip out there, I had trouble walking up a little hill to get to the bathroom! That was 40 years ago. Not much oxygen at 12,000. You might run into hail and snow, right? My guess is you'll be lucky to get 40 miles. Make sure you can ride eBikes on all the areas you want to ride in the park.

 

[Chris Hammond]

So I assume you have a 500 Wh battery???? First thing to do is do a test ride with the gear you are planning on taking and do a 45 mile ride and see what kind of battery usage you get on flat terrain with your normal riding speed. Then try it another day with your assist at the lowest level. How many Wh did you use each time? This will at least give you a baseline. My guess is you'd be better off carrying a spare battery each, or plan on stopping to recharge on the climb. I doubt you will make it with e assist alone, it may be possible with the lowest setting the whole time. You should have a contingency plan if power runs out though. Can you each reasonably pedal the bikes uphill without any assist?

 

[MikeBCO]

Will you be adjusted to the altitude before the ride? If not you'll be using a lot more assist to maintain some kind of speed. My first camping trip out there, I had trouble walking up a little hill to get to the bathroom! That was 40 years ago. Not much oxygen at 12,000. You might run into hail and snow, right? My guess is you'll be lucky to get 40 miles. Make sure you can ride eBikes on all the areas you want to ride in the park.

Somewhat. We live in Golden, co at a bit above 6K.

 

[MikeBCO]

So I assume you have a 500 Wh battery???? First thing to do is do a test ride with the gear you are planning on taking and do a 45 mile ride and see what kind of battery usage you get on flat terrain with your normal riding speed. Then try it another day with your assist at the lowest level. How many Wh did you use each time? This will at least give you a baseline. My guess is you'd be better off carrying a spare battery each, or plan on stopping to recharge on the climb. I doubt you will make it with e assist alone, it may be possible with the lowest setting the whole time. You should have a contingency plan if power runs out though. Can you each reasonably pedal the bikes uphill without any assist?

Battery is 650Wh. Bikes weigh >60lbs though. Gearing is 2 x 9 and to me the front small chainring is all for a power-out situation. So I have never needed to use it. Route is all up and then almost all down, so the key question is really if we can get over the top which is about 1/2 way. But we will be doing some very steep grades. Good idea on doing some control tests. Don't have spare batteries and they're a pretty price.

 

[Chris Hammond]

Ok better info there. If you are only doing ~23 miles up then ~23 down, your chances are far better. I'd still do the test rides for many reasons; establish power use normally and conservatively, establish issues with your packing, training for the ride, etc. Since you are in Boulder already, you can also easily test climbing performance and power use. Find your nearest ~1000 ft elevation climb and give a test under standard and minimum assist.
Other obvious concerns are tools and kit for roadside repairs.

 

[mrgold35]

My wife is only 130 lbs and I come in at 260 lbs. I can use 20%-30% more power on the same ride. I would sometimes switch batteries 1/2 - 2/3 into our ride if I was getting into the 40% or less range (she was still 60%-80% range on the same ride).

Also, if your spouse is significantly lighter that you on the same type of ebike, you could load your extra gear on her bike to help increase your range.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

You are going to just have to experiment. Your mileage will vary.

I find with a 700wh battery and me weighing about 100kg and 10kg of gear that 50km and 1000 meters of elevation gain usually exhausts the battery.

Higher tire pressure and pretty smooth tires are good for 5-10 percent more range.

On this tour (35 miles, 3100 feet of elevation gain) I was on the last electrons as I got into Pacific City for fish tacos: